The agreement, announced this morning at a meeting of the State Board of Medical Examiners in Trenton, means Roger Lallemand Jr. will not be permitted to take part in the state's new medical marijuana program. Lallemand is one of 131 doctors who had registered with the program.

In a complaint filed last week, the state alleged Lallemand indiscriminately prescribed powerful painkillers, including OxyContin and Roxicodone, when they were not medically necessary, putting his patients at risk. He also allegedly pushed unnecessary prescriptions for testosterone, an anabolic steroid.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration began the investigation into Lallemamd in December, using an undercover agent posing as a patient.

Under the settlement agreement announced today and ratified by the board, Lallemand's license is effectively suspended pending a plenary hearing, akin to a trial, in which he can mount a defense. The board, which regulates doctors in New Jersey, could then reinstate him or further suspend or revoke his license.

No date has been set, but it's likely to be several months before a hearing takes place.

Until then, he can no longer practice medicine. He also must surrender his license to prescribe controlled dangerous substances.

Star-Ledger fileLallemand is charged with prescribing numerous painkillers, including OxyContin, seen above in a file photo.

Lallemand, 39, of Holmdel, has two offices in Old Bridge and another in Asbury Park.

The disciplinary action was one of two taken by the medical panel this morning. In the second case, the board approved a consent order limiting the practice of Richard Kaul, an anesthesiologist accused of performing highly sensitive spinal surgeries without proper education or training.

The order bars Kaul from performing any spinal procedures and from any other surgical procedures that require anesthesia. He may still administer anesthesia to patients if he is assisting a surgeon and if he obtains hospital privileges.

He may also hire a board-certified surgeon to perform procedures at a surgical center he owns in Pompton Lakes. That would allow him to continue generating income through the lucrative facility.

Kaul, 47, has a long history of disciplinary action. In 2001, he was convicted of negligent manslaughter in his native England after a patient suffered a heart attack while in his care. The patient, a mother of six, later died.

Witnesses testified Kaul talked on his cell phone and instructed a receptionist to turn off a beeping blood oxygen monitor because the sound annoyed him. Following the conviction, he received a six-month suspended sentence and lost his medical license.

Kaul failed to disclose the conviction when he opened his practice in New Jersey, leading to a six-month suspension of his license.